"Federal pipeline inspectors didn't like what they found when they looked at construction of the Permian Express pipeline.

Unqualified welders were fusing the pipe together in central Texas, using unapproved methods. Regulators with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) were alarmed enough in May 2016 to seek a $1.3 million fine against the builder, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners LP.

Company attorneys, though, said the pipe was sound and the problems flagged by PHMSA were "insignificant deviations."

Four months later, the new pipeline leaked more than 33,000 gallons of oil through a hole next to a weld. It took crews 12 days to find the leak."

Mike Soraghan reports for Energywire May 26, 2020. [2]